Expenses up and income down at FSC for 2015/16

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) says it recorded a drop of $87.29 million in its total comprehensive income for the 2015/16 financial year, moving from $245.81 million to $158.5 million.

In its annual report for the year ended March 31, 2016, which was laid before Parliament on Tuesday, the FSC said the decline in its performance was influenced mainly by additional expenses, which leapt from $142.6 million to $808 million.

The commission attributed this primarily to increase in costs of $102.7 million, $14.3 million and $14.07 million related to staff, training, and bad debt, respectively.

The FSC outlined that there were increases in salaries, wages and related emoluments which were approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service for the period.

Compensation packages for executive management and commissioners amounted to $107.38 million, an increase of $13.38 million or 14.23 per cent more than in the previous year.

“The increase in emoluments was attributed chiefly to the retroactive payment of gratuity to the executive director for the year 2014/15,” the commission noted.

At the same time the report pointed out that the FSC’s income increased by $55.3 million to $93.55 million, mainly because additional fees ($45.9 million) were earned in line with the growth in the assets of the combined regulated industries.